Where the Moss and Flowers Grow
by Zachmanya
Summary: Tyler's life seems to be going nowhere. He works a dead end job, lives in a small apartment, has no money and doesn't even have any friends to turn to. He's always felt like there could be so much more to life. Will a chance discovery help him start to turn everything around? This story is about the struggles of life, friendship and finding real happiness.


Where the Moss and Flowers Grow

Chapter 1: A Light in the Darkness

The world was quiet. The young man couldn't figure out where he was. Everything around him was dark. There was no sound. There were no shapes. The air was still and neither hot nor cold. Wherever he was, he simply just existed. Senses had abandoned him yet the young man was not afraid. In fact he did not seem to feel any emotion, only just a calm mind of clear thoughts.

Then out of the blackness appeared a small light. At first it seemed miles away, but it grew larger and then closer. The young man began to feel, each sense slowly coming back to him one at a time. The light brought sight, and the darkness slowly turned into an infinite white instead of an infinite black. Then he gradually felt warmer and a familiar feeling of peace and happiness he hadn't felt in a long time overtook him.

"Am I dead?" he said aloud. In his heart he knew he wasn't, but this feeling was indescribable. He was warm and refreshed. Any aches and pains that might have plagued him before he came to this place were just memories now. For the first time in what felt like years, the young man was at ease. But then he heard a faint sound. It was soft at first, but with each passing second, the pulsing and piercing sound grew louder and louder.

The peaceful feeling was shattered, and the young man looked in every direction, trying to see where the sound was coming from, but it got so loud that it seemed to come from every direction at once. He shut his eyes tight and pushed his hands to his ears, desperately hoping the sound would stop, but when he opened his eyes, reality came rushing back.

The alarm was going off at 6 a.m. sharp. Tyler groaned as he rolled over, blindly reaching for the snooze button. It was a Monday, no different than any other Monday. In fact it was the exact same as every other day of the week. After a few failed attempts to shut off the alarm from under the covers he sat up and pounded the button. "_I shouldn't sleep in anyway," _he thought, _"I can't be late again." _

He dragged himself out of bed and to the bathroom to commence the morning routine he had been through hundreds of times. He spent 5 minutes in a lukewarm shower. He had to duck to get his 6 foot frame underneath the showerhead to wash his dark brown hair. Then he got out to brush his teeth, put on deodorant, and get dressed. He could probably get ready with his eyes closed. He pulled on his grey dress pants and white button up shirt. He walked to his dresser and picked out a grey and black tie and black socks. The only splashes of color on him were his steely blue eyes that brightened up his drab attire. He slipped on his dull black dress shoes and made his way down the hallway to the laughably small kitchen in the already tiny apartment.

Tyler missed the breakfasts his mother used to make on the weekends. She always used to make huge stacks of pancakes or waffles with bacon and eggs and orange juice. Or some weekends she would make homemade cinnamon rolls with fresh fruit. But Tyler never had the time or the money to make such a breakfast. All he could afford was a cold bowl of cereal.

Tyler promptly walked out the door at 6:25 and into a light rain and dark sky. As he made his way out onto the sidewalk the city was already alive around him, or rather as alive as the big city ever got. He started making his way to the subway station a few blocks away, along with all of the other "drones" as Tyler liked to call them. All of these people, including him, marched on in silence towards their own destinations, most of them staring down at their cell phones, not bothering to acknowledge or even glance at one another. Everyone was a complete stranger to everyone else. Tyler had never felt more alone in a city of millions of people.

He reached the subway station at 6:33 with a couple extra minutes to spare before the next train was scheduled to leave. As he boarded however he noticed he wasn't quite early enough to snag a seat, and so he slid into the first open space available in the middle of the compartment between a few other sleepy and well-dressed businessmen. Even in the dull florescent light of the small compartment, everything and everyone seemed exceptionally grey. All of the men and women he could see wore the same dull colors and even had the same emotionless expressions on their faces. The subway car lurched as it started to move towards the business district. Tyler tried to think of something he could look forward to doing after he got off work but to no avail. He had not had anything to look forward to in quite a while.

The subway came to a stop at the next station at precisely 6:52. Tyler was glad to be out of there as he walked onto the platform and up the crumbling staircase. He hated feeling packed in like a sardine. As he reached the top and turned to his right he was right in front of his work, the 50 story tall Joja Company Headquarters. He took a deep breath, trying to take in some fresh air but all he inhaled was combination of smoke and car exhaust. As he walked through the double glass doors and through the lobby he couldn't help but look at the gigantic glowing letters hanging above the rows of elevators. "Join us. Thrive."

"_I joined you 6 years ago." _He thought to himself. _"This isn't thriving, this is barely surviving." _He walked into the first open elevator and once again became a sardine. The button for his floor, number 27 was already lit up, so he shuffled his was to the back and waited for the ascent. One of the dozen people packed in with him must have hit the button but he didn't recognize any of them. After a couple stops the doors slid open to the 27th floor, Accounting. But Tyler wasn't just an accountant. At Joja everyone had two jobs, the one you actually went to school for as well as customer service. Because Joja was a worldwide corporation and had grown so large in its decades of existence, customer service was the most needed position. This consisted of answering phone calls and emails and dealing with disgruntled customers of all types.

On the outside, the average customer would see Joja Corporation as a great retail company with the cleanest stores and the cheapest prices anywhere but only those on the inside saw how cheap and greedy the company really was. Instead of hiring people specifically for customer service jobs, the upper management decided that in an effort to save money, they just wouldn't have a dedicated customer service department. Instead every base level employee would also be a part time customer service representative. Basically they could force hundreds of employees to do two jobs for the price of one.

He shuffled his way past dozens of identical cubicles. The bright florescent lights hurt his eyes already. His mind seemed to be wandering extra today because he nearly walked right by his desk. He sat down in his rickety old swivel chair that creaked and moaned under his weight. He had been asking his department manager, Mark, for a new chair for months. This ancient thing had its cushion worn down and offered no support. As a result he usually felt like he had the back of a 70 year old. Even though he tried explaining this, Mark always had the same answer. '_I'll see what I can do.'_

Tyler booted up his computer and opened up his Joja Corporation email, 15 unread. He scanned the subject lines for anything important. Most of them were companywide and had little to do with him. A couple said deadlines, and a couple more he was sure were just spam messages that had made it through the company's subpar security system. There was one however marked as urgent. He opened that one first.

_Tyler, please come by my office today before you leave. I have a work opportunity I would like to discuss with you. Keep up the hard work._

_Mark_

_Joja Corporation Head of Accounting _

In almost an instant Tyler's mood started to become more positive. In his mind there was only one reason his boss would want to meet with him at the end of the day. Tyler knew that just a couple weeks ago one of the assistant managers, Morris, got a promotion to become a retail store manager somewhere and so that meant there was a vacant opening. Finally, after years of hard and mindless drone work, things might actually be looking up. If he were to become an assistant manager, it would come with a hefty pay increase, better benefits, more vacation time and an office with an actual window! Most importantly though, no more customer service!

As Tyler got to his work, replying to emails, filling out paperwork, and answering numerous phone calls of unsatisfied customers, he couldn't help but have a slight grin on his face. Just the thought of all of the long work days he had to endure seemed to drift away from his mind at the promise of maybe getting a bigger apartment. He would never have to buy ramen noodles or cereal again. He might even be able to afford a real vacation for once. Other than to see his family in a small suburb just outside of Zuzu City, he had not left the concrete confines since he arrived right out of college.

The rest of the day was a blur. The thoughts of a better life kept Tyler's brain on autopilot all day. He was only snapped out of his daydreaming when he heard the 5 P.M. buzzer that signaled that the work day was finally over. It surprised him so badly that he almost fell out of his chair. _'Did I even eat lunch today?' _ He tried to recall but he could not even remember that. All he knew was it was finally time to go and meet Mark.

He walked out of his cubicle and started walking in the opposite direction of all of his coworkers. He rounded a corner at the end of the row and made his way to the end of the floor where Mark's office overlooked the intersection below. He could see through the office door window that Mark was sitting at his large maple desk, with a phone up to his ear. He knocked twice and saw Mark beckon him in and to sit down. Mark was quite a bit older than Tyler. He must have been in his mid-50s based on his graying and receding hairline. As Tyler entered the spacious office that was about 5 times the size of his workspace he overheard the end of the phone conversation. "Yes in fact he just walked in. Uh huh, yeah and I will get you the list of names tomorrow so we can adjust schedules and responsibilities by the end of the week. Okay great, bye."

"Tyler, hey," Mark greeted him with a suspicious smile and piercing brown eyes. Tyler felt uneasy but he was not sure why. "Hi Mark, I got your email this morning." "Yes yes sit down real quick; this won't take long at all. Then you can be on your way to enjoy your evening." Tyler sat down in the blue chair across from Mark and immediately his back pain subsided. _"Even the guest chairs in his office are nicer than my chair, and he never even has guests up here." _He thought to himself.

"So, I have news regarding our department," Mark started to say. "As you know Morris was recently given a store manager position elsewhere." "Yeah I know," Tyler said, "where exactly was he sent?" "Hell if I know," Mark replied. Tyler was a bit taken aback at the blunt response. "But you see we are going through some major changes around the headquarters. Upper management is trying to cut some operation costs, so some people are going to start to get moved around. Morris was just the first piece that has affected our floor."

"Is my position going to be affected?" Tyler asked, trying to hide a nervous smile. "Oh yes," chimed Mark, "I'm sure you figured it out by now but that's why I wanted to talk to you. You see, when Morris got transferred, the higher ups started to examine the state of our whole floor. The productivity, the daily costs, and the customer tickets assisted with were the top things they looked at." Tyler began to feel warm, curious as to where this was going. "Over the past couple weeks they have determined that we could operate much better as a department if we move half of our accounting staff to full time customer service, and then let the other half devote all of their work time to only payroll and financial reports."

Tyler's heart began to sink at the thought of the possible paths the rest of the conversation could take. What kind of job would a full time customer service representative be? Endless days of listening to people complain about things that you had no control over. He began to feel sick to his stomach. "So where does this leave me?" he asked solemnly. "I'm glad you asked!" Mark replied with a devious smile on his face. "Now don't worry, I'm leaving you as an accountant because you are one of the most productive accountants we have. The Board has approved me to make you the Accountant Team Leader!" Tyler sat silent for a few seconds, a small relief came over him before he hopefully asked, "So I'm getting Morris' old job?" "Well, not exactly." Now Tyler was thoroughly confused.

"Since the accounting team is getting downsized there really isn't any need for an assistant manager in our department anymore, but we still need additional leadership, and so that is why I'm promoting you to the new position of Team Leader. You'll be overseeing the day to day operations of the entire floor!" Tyler still did not know how he should feel about this news. "Does this position come with any kind of additional benefits, like compensation, or an actual office?" "Of course, of course, we wouldn't give you a promotion with no reward for your hard work. Your office will be just down the hall, and my boss has authorized me to give you a 3% pay increase!"

"3%?" Tyler repeated. "Yes," said Mark, "and an office that is twice as big as your current cubicle! I had to pull some major strings to get you a raise but I told the bosses, 'he's the hardest worker on the floor, he deserves this' and so they agreed on one condition. With the department being half as staffed as before we are going to have to increase hours to make up for it." Tyler's apprehension of the situation had increased to the point that his hands started to shake while clutching the arms of the chair. "Your new hours will start next week. They include working until 6 everyday instead of 5, as well as coming in for a half shift on Saturday's."

Tyler was stunned, he felt like he had just been slapped in the face. However he did not want to risk all of the progress he had made in the last six years so through gritted teeth he replied as calmly and politely as possible, "this is all a lot, I'm going to have to think about it." "There's nothing to think about, the promotion is already finalized," said Mark, "so congratulations and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow to give you a rundown of your new responsibilities."

"Thank you sir," Tyler said so quietly his voice was barely heard over the hum of the bright florescent lights above them. "I'll see you in the morning." Tyler stood up and slowly walked out of the office and past the endless rows of prison cells to the elevators. Everything around him turned into a blur as he descended to the city below. As he walked out of the skyscraper the sky had already begun to turn into a depressing shade of gray as night soon approached and the bright lights of the surrounding city bounced off of the passing cars and puddles from the day's rain. It was blinding to Tyler, and the sounds of the city began to pound inside his skull.

The subway ride home was only 15 minutes but it felt like hours. Tyler's thoughts were going in a million different directions at once. The noise of the subway was just as bad as the noise from the street. His head was pounding. The dim lights of the compartment hurt his eyes. He was so sick of those damn florescent lights. Before he even realized he was standing outside of his apartment. He did not even remember climbing the 3 flights of stairs to get there. He fumbled through his coat pocket for his key and forced it into the sticky rusted lock and stepped in.

As the door shut behind him Tyler let out a long sigh, all of his emotions hit him at once. A single tear rolled down his cheek and fell to the cracking faux wood floor. He sat down on his lumpy old sofa and finally began to collect his thoughts. After 6 years and all of his hard work, his reward felt more like a punishment. How could his boss do this to him? Barely any increase to his pay, and now he was being forced to work more hours? The regular work week beat him down enough as it was. 6 long years of constant work, no vacations, no time off, and no sick days. 6 years of his life and nothing to show for it but an empty bank account, a tiny apartment, and no friends to even be there for him. He felt trapped in a life that once was full of promise but now felt like a dead end.

His despair finally had all be drawn out of him and what remained was anger. Tyler let out a yell and grabbed the first thing within his reach, a pillow, and threw it across the room. It collided with a standing lamp in the corner and they both fell to the floor. A shattering sound followed as the lightbulb within broke. He then picked up a book sitting on the coffee table and flung it towards a small bookshelf along the far wall. It hit with a hard thud and the bookshelf wobbled for a second before falling to the floor as well. The dozens of books Tyler owned fell all over the floor of his small living room. This seemed to snap him out of his rage and all that was left was melancholy.

The day's events left his mind for a moment and he felt ashamed that he let his anger get the best of him. He got up and lifted the bookshelf back upright. _'It's going to take forever to put these books back in the right places,' _he thought. Reading was one of the few joys Tyler had. Books allowed him to escape, to go to far off places and worlds that were far more exciting than the one he was living in. Whenever he did manage to save a little extra money it was almost always spent at his favorite bookstore across town. He felt horrible for what he had done. In a way, books were his only real friends these days. So one by one he picked them up and placed them back in their places.

After a few minutes he picked up a book he didn't recognize. It was small but thick and bound in brown leather. It had no title or any markings on the outside, but the pages looked old and yellowed. Tyler sat back down and opened the front cover slowly, listening to the old spine crack and creak. Whatever this book was, neither he nor anybody else had opened it in a very long time. The worn and tattered front page only had a few faded words he could barely read in the dim light of his apartment. _'Property of Jack Winters,'_ It was his grandfather's old journal.

When his grandfather passed away that journal was the only thing that was left to Tyler. In fact it was the only thing left to anybody in his family. Everyone was so confused when the lawyer read out his will. How could that be the only thing, and why would he give it to Tyler? Jack had a couple sons and a daughter, but to Tyler's knowledge none of them remained too close with him after they grew up and moved away, including Tyler's dad. The rest of the family was just never cut out for the country life.

Memories flooded Tyler's mind of endless childhood summers spent with his grandfather on his old farm. There were no worries or responsibilities while a young Tyler ran and explored through the surrounding woodlands and fields. Those were simpler times. A small smile crept onto his face. He sure missed Grandpa Jack, it had been 10 years since he had died, and at least 15 since Tyler had been to his farm. He always felt guilty for not seeing him as much after he started high school. He sure wished he could talk to him now; just ask him for some advice. _'Maybe he wrote some kind of life advice in this old journal,' _he thought to himself. It occurred to him that since owning the journal, he had never once opened it before. It had been too painful at first and over time he had forgotten about it altogether.

Tyler started to flip through the pages; each one was filled from top to bottom with writings, scribbles, pictures and notes. It included all kinds of advice on farming and life in the country. At a glance there did not appear to be any deep life advice hidden in the pages but he had only been skimming, and that's when he noticed it. Poking up from a page in the middle of the journal was a much whiter piece of paper that caught Tyler's eye. It was obviously not a part of the original journal and he carefully pulled it from its yellowed neighbors. It was an envelope, sealed shut by a thin wax seal.

He could feel his heart start to race. What could be in this envelope? It had been inside this book for years. There was only one way to find out and Tyler slowly and carefully broke the wax seal. The first thing he pulled out was a letter folded into three's with his name on the outside. He smoothed it out and began to read.

_Dear Tyler,_

_If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change._

_The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life… real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong. _

_I've enclosed the deed to that place… my pride and joy: Mossflower Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast, but of course you already know that. It's the perfect place to start your new life._

_This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours. I know you'll honor the Winters name, my boy. Good luck._

_Love, Grandpa_

For the second time today Tyler was at a loss for words. Tears came back into his eyes. Even after all these years, his grandfather was still looking out for him. He held the envelope away from him so that none of his tears would fall onto what he pulled out next, a formal looking piece of stationary, the deed to Mossflower Farm. After Jack had died, Tyler's entire family searched the rundown farmhouse for hours trying to find this document, before finally giving up saying they wouldn't be able to get any value out of the overgrown farm in the middle of nowhere anyway.

Yet here it was. The house, the farm, it was all his the entire time. But surely he couldn't just drop the entire life he worked so hard for. It would crazy to move somewhere he hadn't been since he was a kid, and try to make a living doing something he knew absolutely nothing about. Besides, the last time he was there with his family, the farmhouse was in rough shape. His grandpa hadn't been able to properly take care of it in his final years. The farm itself must be a complete mess as well. How could he possibly fix everything all by himself? He glanced back down at the brown leather journal. _'No,'_ Tyler thought. _'I won't really be alone.'_

Everything his grandpa knew about farming was in those pages. The knots in Tyler's stomach began to loosen. Every day was the same living nightmare for him. The same routines, the mind numbing work and the misery that came from a life with no real purpose. And here there was a purpose staring him right in the face. Tyler was anxious and scared and nervous and hopeful all at the same time, but he knew what he had to do.

Abruptly Tyler stood up and pulled out his cell phone. It was already after 9 o'clock but he didn't care. He dialed Mark's number and on the second ring he got an answer. "Tyler, do you know what time it is? If you're calling in sick that's fine, you can always make it up on Sunday." Tyler only spoke two words, "I quit." "You what? Tyler is this some kind of joke because it's not very funny, especially so late in the evening." "I'm serious Mark; I am never stepping foot in that office again." "Look, if this is about that promotion we can discuss this in the morning." "You'll be discussing it by yourself then, because I am never working another second for Joja Corp."

"Have you been drinking Tyler? These aren't things a sober person would be saying, especially after I stuck my neck out for you." "I don't owe you anything Mark. I've had enough. Find someone else to work 50 hours a week and do all your work for you." "You… I… You're fired, you hear me? Fired. I'll make sure you never work in this city again." "I'm counting on it. Goodbye Mark." He hung up.

Tyler placed his phone on the coffee table, his hand was shaking slightly and his heart was pounding. What did he just do? "I just took my life back," he said to himself. An enormous weight seemed to be lifted off of his shoulders. But the feeling was short lived as the uncertainty crept back in. What happened now? He had hardly any money, and no plan, just a letter and a deed giving him possession of a country farm. Was there anyone he could call? Maybe there was more info in the journal. He began to flip through it again and in one of the back pages was a list of names with phone numbers. Most looked like old friends of his grandfather, and there were Tyler's family members but then one name caught his eye. _Mayor Lewis. _

Tyler knew it was a longshot. This journal hadn't been opened in 10 years; there was no telling if this Lewis was even still alive. But it was his only sense of direction at the moment, so he took a deep breath, picked up his phone and dialed the number. One ring; okay at least the number wasn't disconnected. Two rings; he wondered if he should have waited until morning, it must be well past 10 o'clock. Then halfway through the third ring he heard an older voice say, "Hello, this is Lewis." "Hi Lewis, I know it's late but my name is Tyler Winters, and I was wondering if you could help me."


End file.
